THE DAYS GONE BY: My favorite thing about this month so far is getting to see my friends and family more. It has also made me very busy! This is my catch up post.

Day 16: Circuit training with Todd
Day 17: I took it off but I’ll make it up. Tomorrow is a 10K.
Day 18: Run, Rock, and Roll 10K Denver with my cousin, neice, sister, and her neighbors. Really fun!
Day 19: More circuit training with Todd. Also started a stretching series badly needed.

I also spent a good part of the weekend cooking my International meal for week 1 of Food Feuds 2015! Can’t talk about it though since we aren’t supposed to know who made what. Wish me luck!

STATS:
Starting weight: 148
Weight: 142.5
Competition weight: 138

BULLIED: To continue from yesterday’s post, long ago at a different company I reported a case of harassment. I really didn’t want to bring it up. It was embarrassing. I thought I could handle it by using reason. And I did NOT want to be that girl. I endured for well over a year. But it was out of control and I was kinda getting a little bit scared. So finally I decided to say something.

I was told it would be my word against his. There is no proof so we really can’t take sides. Then I was given many reasons why working for that company was amazing and I should focus on those. Lastly I was told – on the off chance I wasn’t just overreacting – that the guy was probably just trying to get a rise out of me. Ignore him. He’ll get bored and leave you alone. I thought to myself, Remember this conversation when I’m found in a ditch somewhere.

Parents don’t tell your kids that if they ignore bullies and problems they’ll go away. Your kids will grow up and tell others the same nonsense. Is that what you would do if someone walked into your office and shoved you? Blocked your doorway so you couldn’t leave? Bumped into you every time you walked by? For a year? Possibly even put a hole in your tire? Doubtful. Tomorrow I will tell you what you get when you ignore bullies as well as what I think companies should teach in classes about harassment.

THE FLATIRONS HIKE: The weather is definitely cooperating with these goals. 70-80 and sunny every day. Day 15 was another amazing day for a hike. My buddy Sam and I hiked the first and second Flatiron. It is so easy to get lost on that trail! I think because there are false trails everywhere. I have only reached the top on about half of my attempts. Got lost a few times. It was closed a few times for bats or weather.

My previous attempt with Sam it was closed but we scrambled the rock field and tried to get up there anyway. No dice. And we almost caused a rock slide with me on it. An hour hike turned into about a four hour adventure. But this time, SUCCESS! And we only got mildly lost once on the way back. 🙂

HARASSMENT TRAINING: Every two years my job requires me to take an online sexual harassment course. The running joke is they want to be sure our harassing skills are up-to-date. I know it is a serious subject but it is hard for me to take it too seriously. For one thing I work remotely. I haven’t seen anybody I work with in six years. Most of them I’ve never even met.

Aside from that I think they teach the wrong thing. The focus is on awareness. Knowing what harassment is. For example, we learned that hiring strippers for an office party could be considered harassment and that it is not ok to offer someone a raise in exchange for a date. Glad we cleared that up.  

It is pretty obvious when someone makes you uncomfortable. Like the other day when an old guy shooting hoops asked a trainer if she wanted to play shirts and skins. No in either direction, buddy. Recognizing harassment is the easy part. Where people seem to be lost is how to handle it. I reported someone for harassment once. You want to know what happened? I’ll tell you tomorrow. To be continued…

THE YOGA NAP: I have done yoga before. The yoga I did required the use of every muscle. It was exhausting. The goal was to calm yourself under extreme stress. Not that different from CrossFit actually. But if there is an opposite of CrossFit, our Hot Stone Restore Yoga class on Day 14 was it.

The goal was to lay on the ground in a stretch and try not to use any muscles. To totally melt while you clear your mind. In the middle of a CrossFit workout it is impossible to think of anything else but what you are doing. But when you sit in a dark room in silence thinking only about breathing it is surprisingly difficult to keep your mind from wandering.

Despite my jokes about hearing the dinner bell and humming a little tune together (she played symbols and we ended with an “aummm”) I came out of there feeling pretty great. The clearing the mind thing might be worth working on. Maybe after a CrossFit workout when everyone collapses on the ground they should hand us a pillow, turn off the lights, and give us a few minutes.

THE AUSSIE: My stepbrother is visiting from Australia this week. Back home in Melbourne he had a hobby of collecting discarded trees and turning them into wood chips for barbecuing. It turned into a pretty big business and the demand there is going crazy. So while he is out here the family has been eating at every barbecue place they can think of so he can talk his way into their kitchens for inside information. What a fun way to spend a vacation! A local restaurant tour sounds like a good goal for November!

SPIN CLASS: Last time I went to a spin class I was a member at 24 Hour Fitness. They turned the lights off, cranked up the music, and spun me into the ground. I loved it. It is one of the reasons I kept my membership going for so long. Knowing I have been trying to come up with something different every day in October my buddy Nicole suggested I join her for a spin class last night. What a blast!  

ROLLERBLADING: In Luxembourg my roller blades were transportation to and from work. That was a long time ago though. Now it is much more like a workout. A pretty awkward workout at first. Especially crossing Baseline. Yikes! I hope I don’t have to go down a hill! But just like riding a bike I was cruising down the path listening to reggae in no time. The only thing missing was a giant wad of Bubblicious.

One minor concern though. A mountain lion mauled a 50-60 pound bulldog not far from here about four days ago. This path goes through tall grass and wooded areas with a creek and a bridge. In the back of my mind was an interview I had watched of a guy who was pulled off his bike from behind by a mountain lion.

Luckily I forgot all about that when I did in fact find myself at the top of a steep curvy hill. Eeek!! How do you slow down on these things again? -Oh yeah. You don’t. I may or may not have taken several steps in the grass to slow myself down before realizing that my skates still had heel brakes on them. (I used them without brakes for roller hockey long ago).

Whew! Made it home safely. No wildlife encounters other than being chased by a bunny. That was really fun.

STATS:
Starting weight: 148
Weight: 143
Competition weight: 138

THE DESSERT TABLE: I passed a major test on Day 10. A party with a dessert table bigger than the food table. Three kinds of cake. Six kinds of cookies. Ugh! White chocolate macadamia nut. Just a bite?

No not just a bite. Not ready to open the flood gates yet. I’ll have my first cheat on Halloween after all 30 days without sugar, grains, and dairy first.

Interestingly I enjoyed the party more by abstaining. I celebrated my friends’ engagement and didn’t leave feeling like it was a setback. Yay! An article I read called it ‘urge surfing’. Recognize the signs. Ride the wave. Don’t fall off. Let it fizzle out and enjoy the success!

THE FOOD FEUDS: My workout on Day 10 was a quick run and then a bike ride to the gym. I wasn’t there for CrossFit though. I signed up for Food Feuds! Instead of having your typical nutrition challenge, NoCoast decided we should play Iron Chef instead.

We cook one meal that follows Zone each week for three weeks. Each week has a theme: 1. International, 2. Use pumpkin in a recipe, 3. Chef’s Choice. We judge each other based on taste, presentation, and creativity.  We all get a bunch of delicious food every week and whoever cooks the highest rated meal wins a third of the pot. Wish me luck!

THE PRESS: What would the world be like if everyone was the same? If everyone did the same thing and behaved the same way. Boring. Last year when I saw this guy put every plate in the gym  on the leg press (more than 30 plates) and perform this movement I judged rather harshly.

What is he doing?! That’s crazy! But for some reason when I saw it this time I only felt curious. After all, who am I to judge? What looks more ridiculous than me walking around on my hands in the gymnasium like a 12 year old? I’m sure that raises a few questions. Maybe there is a story behind this too. If I had it to do over again I would definitely find out. Next time.

THE IDEA: Speaking of me looking ridiculous, in my last post I mentioned an idea for a workout for Day 9. While I was watching someone do lunges the other day the song ‘Wobble Baby’ came on. Hmmm. Could I keep up? The idea was this. I put this song on and do lunges. When he tells me to ‘wobble’ and to ‘get in there’ I do air squats. When he tells me ‘hey big girl back it up’ the lunges go backward. The goal is to stay in rhythm.

I did it twice. The first time I kept up a little too easily. Failed mission. So I did it again at double the speed. Ack! Go! Go! It was so fast I was laughing while I was gasping for air. The backwards walking lunges stopped walking. Disaster! I really hope nobody saw that. It burned like crazy but I definitely did not keep up. However I’m convinced it is possible. I’ll have to try again.

THE RULES: Another clarification was requested. In CrossFit we sprint. So if I sprint this month am I’m cheating? Of course not. Almost any workout could arguably be ‘constantly varied at high intensity’. So what are the rules? I thought about it and decided if CrossFit introduced me to it then its off limits. So no RTFs, AMRAPs, EMOMs, or chippers. No muscle ups, burpees, wall balls, or kipping pull ups.

But YES to regular pull ups, push ups, dips, and jumping rope. Yes to sprinting, circuit training, and lifting weights. Yes to lunges and air squats. So my idea for Day 9’s workout is fair game. After all, movement coordinated to music is more like dancing that CrossFit right? Well since it’s my game, my rules, and I’m the only one playing I say it is a GO!

THE HIKE: I hiked Royal Arch again for Day 8 but since I did that already I needed something different. Who would be up for something crazy? My friend Sam of course! We hiked fast to begin with as I knew we would. Sam just won a triathlon a couple months ago. Fast is her only pace. But just to change things up every so often I would say ‘GO!’ and we’d sprint. Ten sprints total on our way to the top. Time? About 38:30. Round trip: 1:03:57. I’m pretty sure we can beat that.

MY CAR: When i got home my car was smoking. it is leaking coolant. 🙁

Check out Todd! He’s a Stormtrooper in Star Wars Battlefront!

THE QUESTION: My friend Lee asked a question. If I am taking a break from CrossFit then why do the stats on these posts list a ‘competition weight’? Great question. Feel free to ask more. A lot goes on in this head.

That number is what I typically weigh during competitions. Every time I am about to compete I eat cleanly for a week or two and immediately drop 5 pounds. I think there is a weight a person’s body naturally wants to be for optimal performance in sports but also in life. And I have always thought I feel best, train best, and perform best right around my competition weight.

So the answer is: My plan for November is to see if my perceived optimal weight actually makes a difference not only during training but in normal life. But first I have to get there which automatically makes it a goal for October. Now I need to find out the answer to: does exercise speed up weight loss in ketosis? This is way I can implement a keto diet this month.

By the way, I don’t think the normal five pounds I drop and gain so quickly is real weight. I read that you can carry more than 10 lbs of waste in your guts. Gross! But the five I gained on top of that makes it harder to get my jeans on so I’m pretty sure that’s real. It has been a week and as usual I’m down five. Now I’m targeting the five real.

THE RUN: Message to the four women who stood side by side blocking the sidewalk and watching me approach but not bothering to allow me to pass: This time I went around. Next time Red Rover is sending me right over.

THE DJ: Can’t let today go by without mentioning how nice it was having Todd playing DJ while I made dinner last night. It reminded me of one of our very first dates just sitting together and listening to music all night. He didn’t even mock me while I was dancing around the kitchen singing every word of every song. (I’m sure the music helped drown me out). Fun night!

Do I lose credibility as a human being if I heard a song before Todd came home and I liked it but found out it was Justin Bieber? I’m going to say “No”. I have a theory he is not the devil. So far it is just a theory. I guess we’ll see.

STATS:
Starting weight: 148
Weight: 143.5
Competition weight: 138

THE TUB: Normally Tuesdays I wake up early and go to the gym to work on Olympic lifts. I thought about that a lot while I was lounging in the bathtub yesterday morning. What a nice reminder that I am never obligated to workout. Don’t get me wrong. I love to train. I like to see what I’m capable of when I push myself to the absolute limits. But I have to say, soaking in Epsom salts is also nice.

THE LUNGES: Later while I was on the elliptical (my crossfitless workout of the day) I watched in the reflection of the window in front of me while other people lifted weights. I started to understand the impulse to walk up to strangers and correct their posture. It’s hard to watch someone doing lunges with their torso collapsing to one knee while the other knee crashes to the ground. Ew. Look away. I get the same feelings watching a surgery. Are my front squats that bad? Hmm. Maybe I should video.

STATS:
Starting weight: 148
Weight: 144
Competition weight: 138